It was a night of debate at the London Guildhall on November 17th, when the Corporation played host to the Evening Standard Debate on Devolution for Cities in the wake of the Scottish Referendum.
The panel included Boris Johnson's chief economist Dr. Gerard Lyons, the Director of LSE, Sadiq Khan MP, Polly Toynbee of the Guardian, political commentator Iain Martin and the Chairman of the Arts Council.
Gerard Lyons claimed London needed more control to face down unprecedented international competition. Echoing comments made last year by Boris Johnson, who made clear that in his view the current way London received funding from central government was "simply not fit for purpose" and said it was time to treat London in a more "grown up" and "mature" way.
I certainly agree there is need for London to be able to better plan and finance the infrastructure needed to prosper and it seems there is growing support from all political parties to address it, the real question is will anything change for the better?
London is a driver of a far wider economy than just the City, or the inside of the M25. It is a global and regional financial centre, competing with Frankfurt, New York, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore and beyond. The power of other cities to plan their futures is far greater elsewhere, and New York is a prime example. Barely 7 per cent of all tax paid by London’s residents and businesses is retained by its mayor and boroughs, compared with 50 per cent in New York for example.
The Centre for London has joined the call for devolved power demanding that London be given more power over its taxes – particularly property taxes – to ensure that it can meet its housing needs, as recommended by the London Finance Commission last year, that supported Boris Johnson's argument for more power.
London having devolved power should not be a fear to the rest of the UK especially when Scotland and Wales already enjoy such freedom. The real opportunity here is to ensure London is able to have a vision for the future, investing in infrastructure that central Government typically finds difficult to do.